Almost Halfway There
by Memoryn
Summary: Hayley, Alina, Jessica, and Lola have been best friends ever since they met - at BTR's last ever North Carolina concert. But when James Diamond sweeps them into Hollywood as the first girl group under Diamond Productions, will they hit the big time?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Only Life You Got**  
**ーHayleyー**

Even now - so long after the fact that it almost feels like it happened to someone else - I can remember the two days that my life changed forever.

The first day was when I was 13 years old, a North Carolina 7th grader and certified tomboy who kept getting into trouble for being a _little _too rough in intramural soccer. I was at a concert, and I met my three best friends there.

Said concert was a Big Time Rush show - the _last _ever BTR show in North Carolina, since it was also their last concert tour. It was an amicable split, I'd read in Pop Tiger, though I still cried my eyes out about it. James was going to start working in production, as well as continuing to model. Logan had to go to med school at some point, and Carlos was going back home to Minnesota to "figure stuff out." And Kendall - my favorite member my a long shot - had started to coach hockey back home, too, so there just wasn't time for more BTR. It sucked, and like I said, I cried until I couldn't cry anymore about it.

Then, I resolved to go see them live, for the first and last time. It took about a month of begging my older brother Freddy to take me, but he finally agreed - probably just to shut me up, but still. There aren't many bands that go to North Carolina anyway, so I'm sure he was a little excited too, even though he spent the entire time chatting up the girl at the merch table. Which meant I was alone in a giant crowd of screaming people.

But then! A bolt of luck struck me, and I met Alina Hernandez.

I already knew her, vaguely, since she was in my math class - she was the girl all the guys were dying to go out with, even when we were 13 and it didn't mean anything. She's probably the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on, and was even then, with her perfect tan and long, light brown curls and pale brown eyes. She also was alone in the crowd - or she looked like it, anyway - and I knew that if I didn't talk to her then, I'd miss my chance.

I ambled to her and tried to grin at her casually. "Hey, you're Alina Hernandez, right? I think we've got math together."

She turned to me, surprised, but then flashed a dazzling, relieved smile. "Yeah! And you're Hayley...something?"

"Hayley Blake," I replied, with a small laugh. "I didn't know you liked BTR."

"I don't like them, I _love _them," she said, gesturing at her red "I LOVE JAMES DIAMOND" t-shirt. "Especially James."

"I'm more of a Kendall girl, myself. Though I don't have a shirt for it," I noted, with a small frown. "It's really good to see a familiar face here, though. Are you here with your parents?"

"My _papi_, yeah. He's waiting in the parking lot for this to end - something about his hearing already being bad enough," she said, sheepish. "What about you?"

"My big brother Freddy." I gestured at the merch table. "He's flirting with that girl who's manning it."

Alina frowned. "Isn't that Katie Knight? Like, as in Kendall's little sister?"

"...If it is," I said, raising my eyebrows, "then he's got his work cut out for him."

Alina laughed, and I laughed too, but was then promptly interrupted when I was bumped into from behind. I whirled around, ready to fight whoever it was, but then paused. "Jessica Li?"

"Yeah," the girl replied, straightening herself up. "Hayley Blake. You knocked out my brother Jack in soccer the other day."

I sighed. "I'm super sorry, I didn't mean to, it was a mistake -"

"No, are you kidding? Seeing him go down was the best thing ever!" she replied, wrapping me into an unexpectedly tight hug. Jessica was shorter than I was then, and she hasn't grown much since, but she's changed plenty in other ways - namely, in that her hair isn't as straight and black now as it used to be. But she's still _super _short. "It's like I'm meeting Carlos Garcia! Oh, and hi, Alina! I'm Jessica Li, and I already know you because we have gym together," she said, letting go of me.

Alina gave her a tiny wave. "Good seeing you."

"Anyway," Jessica said, "would you mind if I stood here during the concert with you? My dads aren't here, and I'm sorta lonely."

Alina raised her eyebrows. "You're not here with your parents? They let you go to concerts by yourself?"

"My dads pretty much let me do anything I want. Jack too," Jessica explained, shrugging. "And they didn't want to go to this concert, so...I'm here."

"Well, one more isn't gonna hurt the island of misfit toys that much," I joked, smirking. "You're free to stay here as long as you want. So you like Carlos?"

"Yeah! He's so funny and energetic," Jessica said, eyes dreamy. "He's, like, my dream guy! And a half."

"Now all we need is a Logan fan," Alina commented, with a small smile. "Then we've got all four."

"It's kind of a crazy coincidence that I ran into you two, anyway," I said, with a shrug. "Maybe we'll meet a Logan girl by the end of the night..."

I trailed off as the lights dimmed, and the sounds of screaming fangirls and fanboys filled my ears. I was probably screaming too. But the night wasn't over yet.

* * *

The last of our quartet was somebody we met when the show was over, when we went to go to the merch table. "One Carlos helmet, please!" Jessica chirped, cheerfully, as she forked over the $30 needed for it and fastened the thing on her head.

"And I'll take a Kendall hoodie, biggest size you've got," I said, reluctantly giving the girl - who was _definitely _Katie Knight, just a few years older than me - the $40 needed. I pulled the dark blue hoodie over my head and sighed happily. "It's so _warm."_

"I don't think I _need _more James stuff," Alina said, biting her lip. "But also, signed headshots..."

"I'd go for it," Jessica said, tapping her head playfully. "You're not gonna get another chance."

Alina sighed. "Don't remind me."

"U-um, excuse me," said a voice, from behind me. "If you're st-still deciding, can I get through?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure," I said, stepping out of the way and looking at the girl who the voice belong to. She wore thick glasses and a familiar school uniform.

"Wow, you go to Maple Park Prep?" Alina said, raising her eyebrows. "I thought they didn't let their students go out on school nights."

"They don't," said the girl, her blush obvious. Her dark brown braids did a decent job of hiding her face. "I k-kind of snuck out."

"Wow. Badass," I said, with a small grin. "What's your name?"

The girl didn't even make eye contact as she replied, "Lola. Lola Brown."

"Cool! I'm Hayley Blake."

"I'm Jessica Li!"

"And my name's Alina Hernandez - you'll want to remember that in the future," Alina said. "Anyway, we'll let you buy some merchandise."

"Thank you," Lola said, still blushing, even as she bought a Logan Mitchell-signed T-shirt.

Jessica's eyes widened. "You're a Logan girl?"

"H-he's smart," Lola explained.

"That's crazy," Alina said, eyes widening. "I guess we've got one of each here, then."

"One of each?" Lola asked.

I nodded. "I like Kendall. Jessica here is a Carlos fan, if you couldn't tell from the helmet, and then Alina likes Jamez."

Lola raised her eyebrows. "What a c-coincidence."

I bit my lip. "How early do you think you're going to have to be back at MPP?"

"I...m-maybe 7 in the morning? I don't _l-live _there," Lola explained.

"And Jessica," I said, turning to the short girl. "You said your dads let you do whatever you want?"

"Whatever," Jessica confirmed.

"How about we do a sleepover at your house, then?" I suggested, grinning. "We can stay up all night and watch BTR videos."

"I like this plan," Alina declared, taking out her cell phone. "Let me just text my Papi so he knows where I am."

"And I'll text Freddy," I agreed, still grinning. I didn't know why then, but it felt like some hole in me was filled that night. But it was only the first step to the rest of my life.

* * *

Four years later, right at the beginning of spring break, the three of us were at Jessica's house _again. _(Hers was the biggest - one of her dads, Harold, the biological one, was a stock trader with _loads _of money.) We were Juniors, soon going into our senior year, and as per usual, we were sleeping over. It was the day after our spring choir concert - that was the only class we all had together.

Alina was still too pretty to look at, sometimes - her parents _finally _let her start wearing makeup, and it just enhanced everything that was already there. Her lipstick was red, her hair was shiny, and she had a new boyfriend every week. Somehow, though, she didn't have a bad reputation or anything, though she broke hearts like I broke vases.

Jessica had embraced her quirky side, shopping almost exclusively at vintage and thrift stores, and curling her hair and dying it her favorite color, rose pink. She'd found her niche in the art clubs of our high school, being a member of all of them except for the handicrafts club. ("I'd want to model, but everyone says I'm too short," she always said.)

Lola ended up switching to public school for high school, so she could be with the rest of us, and she took the academic scene by storm, with the best grades in our class by a long shot. She wasn't much for fashion, she still was incredibly quiet, and she still had to wear _giant _glasses, but she'd taken to putting her braids in a bun so we could see her face.

And me, Hayley Blake...

I guess it'd take a third party to see how much I'd changed - I couldn't judge that very well for myself. I have blue eyes, with admittedly nice eyelashes and admittedly bushy eyebrows, and the longest, straightest, most boring black hair you've ever seen. I still played soccer - though a little bit less roughly - and was hoping to even get a scholarship for it. But my plans changed that day, and I thoroughly blame Alina - though it's at least a bit my fault too.

"Jess, can we watch TV?" Ali asked, hanging upside-down from the short girl's bed. "I don't know how your remote works, but I'm pretty sure that BTR documentary is on."

Jessica's eyes lit up. "Oh my god, yes! It's been, like, _so long _since the last time we watched it."

"Three months," Lola commented, not looking up from her copy of _Emerald Skies: Battle of the Ecrana River. _"It's been three months."

"It _feels_ like a long time," Jessica said, pouting, as her giant flat-screen TV swung down from her ceiling with the touch of a button. "MTV, right?"

"Most definitely," I confirmed, after checking the schedule on my phone. "I can't believe the concert was four years ago."

"It feels like yesterday," agreed Alina. "But isn't it almost to the day? Lo?"

"About a week off, but yes," Lola said, carefully marking her page before turning to the TV. "The concert was April 8th, and today is the 16th, making a difference of 8 days."

"Thanks, Lola. Can you come take the SAT with me?" I joked, elbowing her playfully.

"No."

"Yep - I already have Lollipop booked that week," Jessica said, grabbing onto our friend's arm possessively.

"Also no."

"We still need to teach the girl how sarcasm works," commented Alina, as the TV showed the music video for _City Is Ours. _

"Isn't this a bop?" Jessica said, excitedly. "_We pull up, open the door, all the girls scream, there they are!"_

"_It's packed from wall to wall and everybody is calling," _I sang, in response.

"_Here we come! It's almost time, feel the rush now, hit the lights!" _Alina joined, while Jessica began her signature beatboxing and I harmonized.

"_We gonna get it all started," _Lola finished, quietly, though the fact that she was the best singer of the four of us was obvious even then. We ended up singing along to the whole song, and Alina and Jessica - members of the school dance team - got up and imitated the choreography perfectly. When the song ended, the four of us collapsed on Jessica's bed, all giggling, as the TV cut to commercials.

"I could sing with you all forever," Lola said, obviously happy. "I know it's mostly Ali's dream to be famous, but..."

"If it could be all four of us, then that'd be the best for sure," I finished.

"Definitely," agreed Jessica and Alina, at the same time.

"All we need is for some audition to come to NC, and we're set," Alina said, stretching.

"Yeah, but _nobody _becomes to NC. We're a flyover state, aren't we?" Jessica said, pouting.

"Unfortunately," Lola confirmed.

"Do _you _want to be famous?" the TV asked, suddenly. The four of us sat up rapidly.

"Yes, TV," Alina said. "This is the craziest coincidence of my life, by the way."

"The Diamond Productions 2019 auditions are now open for signups in **North Carolina**," said the advertisement, which also featured a static image of James Diamond in a _nice _suit. "Head on over to **Mullett Auditorium **to sign up and get famous - big time! Signups close at 3PM."

"They really couldn't record someone saying the specific details, could they?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Who cares how it's recorded? We need to get dressed and over to Mullett _now. _Jess, which one of your dads is home?" Alina asked, already digging through her overnight bag for what I assumed was something tight-fitting and red. (It was her color.) "It's 11 AM _now. _Do we have time to stop by our houses to change before?"

"Um, Stephen?" Jessica replied. "Should he drive us? He can probably drive us."

"Text him and ask," I said, also standing up and stretching. "If we change _fast_ at our places, then we can probably get there by 3. Jess, you'd better change here and now. Lola's house is closest to the theater, so we can go there last. Ali's can be first, and mine can be in the middle."

"On it," Jessica said, retreating into her giant wardrobe.

Lola frowned. "Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Alina raised her eyebrows. "Do you want to meet James Diamond wearing pajamas? Because right now, you're wearing pajamas."

"But they're _comfortable. _And who said James was actually going to be there?"

"_Comfortable _isn't going to get you famous, darling," Ali replied. "But I'll help you pick something nice."

"I'll help too!" chirped Jessica, stepping out of her closet in a white tennis skirt and fuzzy hot pink sweater. "How do I look?"

"About as Jessica Li as possible," I replied, grinning. "Now let's head to Alina's before time runs out, yeah?"

"My dad can drive. To the garage!"

"To the garage!" We all chorused back. How were we supposed to know just how that audition was going to go?

* * *

_A/N:_

_Hey guys! Memoryn here. I've been rewatching BTR lately and wanted to write some showverse fic...but I also wanted to write it with OCs. So here you go! I don't know who I'm going to pair all the guys with yet, but if you have any preferences, I might take them into account. There will be a lot of cameo appearances from a lot of the characters, but James is the one you'll see the most. How has he changed in four years? Well, you'll find out next chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Face Without A Name**  
**ーAlinaー**

I think Hayley blames _me _for all of this. I think she's one crazy chica, but I don't tell her that.

As soon as we found out that My Future Husband James Diamond was holding auditions in our state, _I_ was the one that knew we had to go there. And that we had to look our best doing it. I'm not as good a singer as Lo, or as good a dancer as Jess, and I don't have whatever Hayley has that makes people listen to her...but I am, without a doubt, the hottest person in our group. El Salvador genetics, baby, they're not gonna steer you wrong.

We stopped by my house first. I wasn't expecting to audition for anything for a while yet, so I didn't bring any of my Audition Clothes to Jess's house. But I knew exactly what I was going to wear the moment I stepped inside. "_Mom! Dad! I'm going out with the girls after I change my clothes! I'll text you when I'm on my way home but it's probably gonna be a while!_" I rapid-fired, as I ran down the stairs to my room to grab my clothing. I'm not even sure if they heard all of it, but I definitely _said _all of it.

Red's always been my color - always has been, and always will be - and my cropped red leather jacket is super lucky. It made the black sweetheart minidress I picked out look a _little _more cool and polished. And heels. Do you know how many 16 year old girls _can't _walk in heels? It's a higher number than it should be, but I needed to show MFHJD that I'm super talented in addition to being absurdly hot. I can walk in heels. And dance in them, like, okay. And sing okay...

I started to deflate a little then, I'll admit. What if I wasn't good enough? What if I made a fool in front of myself in front of the only man I've ever actually loved? Sure, I'd had boyfriends at that point - a truly impressive amount of boyfriends. What can I say? I liked making out with people. It's fun. But none of them made me feel the same way I did when I looked at pictures of James Diamond, or watched videos of Big Time Rush performing. That wasn't a feeling there were any words for. What if I lost _my _words, somehow, and messed everything up?

But I shook my head to clear it and fastened a black headband onto my head. I'd be fine. Better than fine - amazing, in a uniquely Alina Hernandez way. I picked out my song then, too - a track off of Selana's first English album called _Born To Meet You_. It's this super romantic love ballad about how the singer is so glad to have been born, because she can see the person she loves whenever she wants to. That was pretty accurate to James and I's situation, so it was perfect. When I was sure my outfit was 100% perfect, I ran back up the stairs and right back into Jess's dad's car.

"Wow," Jessica said, raising her eyebrows. "You look like that red eyeliner I like, but personified."

"Thanks? I think," I replied, as I buckled my seat belt. "Hayley, you're next."

"That I am," she agreed. "I'm not sure I'm gonna change clothes, though."

"Solidarity," said Lola, quietly. I noticed that she was still reading that book she was obsessed with, but I didn't say anything.

"If there's anyone who can get a recording contract in just jeans and a t-shirt, it's probably Hayleynator," Jessica commented.

I opened my mouth to argue, but then just nodded. "You're probably right, actually. How do you do that, Hayley?"

Hayley shrugged. "Well, you know, part of your personality is how you like dressing hot all the time, right, Ali?"

I nodded. "You could argue that it's the majority of my personality, even," I agreed.

"And part of Jessica's personality is how she likes wearing quirky pink clothing," Hayley continued.

Jessica grinned widely. "It's true! This sweater is from 1987!" she proclaimed, doing a superhero pose.

"And, well," finished Hayley, shrugging, "part of MY personality is that I haven't worn a skirt or dress since I was 3. And I'm not about to pass this audition as anyone except for myself, or it's not worth it."

"Good explanation," I admitted.

Lola closed her book and frowned. "Wait, so why do _I _have to change _my _clothes?"

"Because you're wearing pajamas. Hayley is _not _wearing pajamas," Jessica answered, shrugging.

"These aren't pajamas, it's a Oxford sweatshirt and joggers," Lola argued.

"That you slept in last night," I said. "If you want to change back into another pair of joggers and another British university sweater, I won't stop you, but they smell like Jess's perfume and definitely have glitter on them."

Lola sighed and shook her head, burying her nose in her book again. "Fine. At least Jean Raxnar, High Warlock of the Ecrana Court, will always listen to me and think I'm right."

Hayley clapped a hand on Lola's shoulder. "And someday, he might even be real." The car stopped just outside of Hayley's house, so she got out of the car with a jaunty wave. "See you girls either really soon or...really soon."

After a chorus of "see yous", the rest of us were quiet for a bit. I took the time to reapply my lipstick, while Lola turned another page. Jess broke the silence, after a few minutes. "So Ali - you're gonna do some kind of sing-dance combo, right?"

"Most likely," I replied, flipping my hair back. "Gotta show MFHJD that I'm versatile, right?"

"Alina, he's ten years older than you," Lola commented. "Plus, you're not 18 until December, and it's currently April, so he'd probably go to jail if you guys actually started a relationship; moreover, the power dynamics of one of the label's artists dating its founder is -"

"Thanks, Lola!" I interrupted, frowning. "And age is just a number. We could make it work."

"Anyway! Lollipop, did you pick what song you're gonna sing?" Jessica continued.

Lola nodded. "_In A Maze Of Memories By Myself _from Inferno Symbol Destinies," she said, shrugging. "It's really pretty and shows off my range."

"Inferno Symbol Destinies...that's that video game, right? My brother got really angry because he couldn't beat it," Jess commented, frowning.

Lola scoffed. "Of course Jack's neanderthal brain wouldn't understand the tactics required to beat a game of Inferno Symbol Destinies. He's better off playing Castle Bashers 3D or something."

I paused. "Was that a harsh burn?"

"The _harshest._"

"Huh." I shrugged, and then turned to Jess. "What about you? Dancing to something, I'm guessing?"

Jessica nodded happily. "I figured it'd be kind of passe to do the choreography to a BTR song, even though I definitely could do literally all of them if I tried, so I was stuck, but _then _I talked to my dad, who's still here, by the way."

Stephen nodded from the front seat of the car. "You girls keep on talking," he said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

"And my dad suggested dancing to _Party Flower_ by Chinese pop diva Leslie Ming," Jessica finished, with a clap of her hands. "Slow sections, fast sections, it has everything!"

"Huh, you three really have all this figured out, don't you?" Hayley asked, as she slid back into the car with a small smile. "Did I miss anything else when I was gone?"

"Lola delivered a video game burn that Alina didn't get," Jessica informed her. "Lola's house next, dad!"

"On it," Stephen replied, as he started the car.

I looked Hayley up and down and nodded. "Slightly different T-shirt and jeans. I like your style."

"And I hope you _also _like what I talked to my brother about. We made up some rules," Hayley explained.

Jessica cocked her head. "Why is it that _you _get to make the rules?"

"Lo would make too many, Ali wouldn't make enough, and yours, my dear Jessi, would be kind of obscure and weird."

Jessica nodded. "Point. Rules?"

"There's four," Hayley began, "Accounting for every possible outcome of this audition. Firstly, if _none _of us make it, we can't just give up."

I crossed my arms. "I don't know. When's the next time anything is going to come to NC, ever?"

"I don't know," Hayley admitted. "Maybe we'll have to go to LA or something, but this dream will come true through our effort, even if it doesn't come true _today._"

"I like that one," Lola said, quietly.

"Approved," I agreed.

"Okay, cool. Secondly, if only one of us makes it, we can't be jealous petty bitches who hate her for the rest of all time," Hayley continued.

"I don't really have the capacity for pettiness, but I can see why that would be important," Jessica commented, nodding.

"That rule is mostly for Ali, right?" Lola asked.

I frowned. "Okay, firstly, if only one of us makes it, it's probably going to be me. Secondly, though I'm certainly a bitch, when have I _ever _been jealous or petty?"

The car went silent after that. Hayley said, tentatively, "Do you... actually want an answer to that?"

"There was that time when Jeff Marsh took Helena Ordway to the end-of-year dance in 8th grade and you spilled punch down her dress," Jess offered, probably with no idea of exactly what she was doing.

"Or 9th grade, when Tracy Dumbrowski got the solo in _The Storm Is Passing Over _and you didn't even show up to the choir concert," added Lola.

"...You...are not un-right," I admitted. "Fine, Hayley, fine rule. What's number 3?"

"Third rule is that if only two or three of us make it, in addition to not hating them, we also need to all keep in touch. That way, the girls in Hollywood can keep their heads above water, and the girls back home can keep being besties with them," Hayley explained.

"That's an important one," Lola said, nodding. "You guys are all I have, and I can't lose you. Though I _can _get out of the car, since we're at my house now," she added, as she climbed out of the car.

"I guess we'll just have to fill Lollipop in on the last rule later," Jessica said. "What's number four?"

"Well," Hayley said, "If all four of us make it to Hollywood, we stick together. Our friendship, and our musical careers, take precedence over whatever the life of a star has to throw at us."

"Definitely," I agreed. "Man, those are good rules. You said your brother came up with them?"

"He helped, but I had the ideas," Hayley explained. "I don't wanna lose you guys to Hollywood. Or not Hollywood, depending on how this goes."

"We stick together - it's what we do," Jessica said, cheerfully. "I like it, and I'm sure Lo will, too."

"Then it's settled," I said, leaning back in my seat. "Now we wait for Lola, go into the audition hall, and _start our dreams!"_

* * *

About ten minutes later, the car arrived at a surprisingly-packed Mullett Auditorium. "I've never seen it this packed," Lola said, raising her eyebrows.

"It's never _been _this packed, is why," Hayley replied, looking around. "How many of these people do we go to school with, do you think?"

"At least half of them," I answered. "Wow. We'd better get to the signup station before time runs out."

"Definitely," agreed Jessica. "Though it looks like _that _line is astronomical, too."

"Then we'd best start waiting." I grabbed Lola and Jess to steer them to the table, with Hayley following close behind. "I don't want to be cut off by something as arbitrary as a _sign up time limit."_

"I'm not sure if arbitrary is the right word and could you also _please let go on my arm? _Your grip makes death look jealous," Lola commented, frowning.

I let go of Jess and Lola and sighed. "I know. I'm just...extremely nervous that I'm going to mess all of this up somehow," I explained.

"There's no reason for _you _to be nervous, Ali, remember?" Hayley said, stepping in front of me. "We'll be fine regardless of what happens today, and you'll do _amazing _in front of YFHJD."

I gave her my signature Alina Hernandez super-pout. "I'm only believing it because it's you saying it, Hayley," I said, as the line inched forward, at the speed of a _snail. _Seriously, imagine the most boring thing that's ever happened to you, and then double the amount of boring-ness, and things will be _close to how slow that line was moving. _Or maybe it was the anticipation. Regardless, I'm sure a turtle race would've been a more fun time.

But apparently, apparently...time was still passing. It sure didn't _feel _like time was passing. But it was. Hayley was in front of me at this point, remember, because she stepped in front of me to comfort me, and that's important. That one step made her the first one of us to sign up.

And the _only _one.

"There! All done, with Freddy's phone number so my mom doesn't yell at me for not telling her about this," she said, smirking and flashing a peace sign. "Alina, you're up next, so -"

"Good afternoon, North Carolina! It's now 3PM, so signups are closed," said a voice over the PA, crushing every bone in my body.

"...It's 3PM," confirmed Lola, with a sigh. "Damn. I guess we barely missed it."

"You'll have to do really well for all three of us then, Hayleynator," Jessica said, managing to not sound any less cheerful in the slightest.

It took me a second to say some kind of encouraging piece of advice, I admit. Have you ever had your first shot at your lifelong dream stolen from you? I have. It feels like you're being punched in the gut while going through a black hole. And Hayley Violet Blake is my best friend in the entire world, so having _her_ be the one doing the gut-punch-black-hole-throwing was enough to leave even _me _speechless.

But I managed my most dazzling possible smile - rule #1 was _don't be a petty jealous bitch_, after all. So I pat Hayley on her shoulder and looked right into those ice blue eyes. "You'd better _slay_, Hayley Violet Blake. I will accept _an entire nothing less._"

Hayley's expression softened. "Jessi, Lo...Alina. I know how much this means to you, and I'm _really _sorry -"

"Nope," I interrupted, crossing my arms. "We're going to spend however long it takes for number 401 to be called getting _you _ready for an audition in front of James Diamond. So don't get all mushy on us now. You know what song you're gonna sing, right?"

Hayley grinned. "Yeah. You guys know _Let's Run Away To LA And Swim With Stars _by Lucy Stone?"

"Oof. Bad plan. You know she used to date James, right?" I said, grimacing.

Hayley's face fell. "No. So I guess not that one, then."

"That's okay. Jessica and Lola, you go through Hayley's 'Songs I Can Sing' playlist and pick something out - to be approved by _me, _of course. I'll help you with everything else I can," I declared, with a determined grin.

Hayley looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I feel like I'm usually the one making plans."

"Not when they have to do with our careers, Hayley," I replied. "Now give the introverts your phone."

"Phone to the introverts, got it," Hayley said, grinning and fishing the thing out of her pocket. She lead the other three of us to a waiting area with the chairs, and practice began.

* * *

The auditionees walked in and walked out, leaving the auditorium more and more empty, and as the afternoon turned into a relatively pretty evening, Hayley got more and more prepared. "Alright, so. During the high section, you're going to want to open your mouth more," explained Lola, demonstrating with her own mouth. "You don't have to worry as much about the words as long as you've got the notes right."

"And I know you're not really into dancing, Hayley," Jessica added, "But at this part - the _best damn night of our whole damn lives _would be really great if you did a spin, like this," she continued, demonstrating.

"Wink at him. Use your eyes. Bat your eyelashes. You have the eyes of a romance novel protagonist," I said, carefully applying a coat of mascara to her eyes.

Hayley raised her eyebrows as much as she could. "I'm not gonna steal your man, Ali."

"I know, but you have super power eyes. We'd be wrong to not use them."

An auditionee walked out of the door - we were standing pretty close at that point. "401 is next," said the voice over the PA.

"Break a leg out there," Lola said, nodding. "And sing from the diaphragm."

"Don't break any of your real legs, though," Jessica said, frowning.

I clapped Hayley on the shoulder and shoved her into the stage room. "Go get 'em," I whispered, as the door shut behind her.

A few minutes passed. Then a few more minutes. And a few more. "Lola, how long has it been?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Uh, about eight minutes," Lola replied, checking her watch.

"So what's taking Hayley so long? Is she doing super well?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know what it is, but -"

Then, all of a sudden, the auditorium door swung open. It wasn't Hayley that walked out, though.

"Are you three Alina Hernandez, Lola Brown, and Jessica Li?" asked My Future Husband, James Diamond.

* * *

_A/N: Yay! James! Hayley's the Kendall of the group - of course she had a plan ;) Next chapter next Monday. See ya then!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Under The Spotlight**  
**ーJessicaー**

I am confused most of the time.

I admit it. It's just because the real world is so _boring and weird. _If a teacher asks me why I didn't do my homework, I'm confused, because photographer/filmmaker/artist/fashion designer/dancer/singer-songwriters don't need math, so why waste time doing math? You know? I'd rather live in sunny Jessica Li Li Land, where the world is bright and sunny and you can use the same adjective twice in a long, run-on sentence without being judged for it.

But when _James Actual Diamond, _of Being James Diamond fame, walked out of that room, I was _super mega confused. _"That's...that, uh, us, is," Alina said, stars nearly coming out of her eyes.

"What Alina means is, yes, we are Alina Fernandez, Jessica Li, and Lola Brown," interrupted Lola, and gesturing at each of us in turn. "And you're Mr. James Diamond, and it's certainly a pleasure, but -"

"What exactly do you want us for?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. "We all missed the cutoff for the auditions, and Hayleynator is the last for today."

"Oh, I'm aware," said James Actual Diamond, in a very charming and pretty way.

"Then why did...you?" asked Alina, still with the eye-stars. And eye-hearts, for that matter.

Hayley appeared from the door after that. I guess she followed him. "I told James the truth - which is that this is more than just my dream, it belongs to my three best friends, too."

"To which I replied, 'That sounds a bit familiar, I think I'll have them sing with Hayley as a little test'," finished James Actual Diamond. "So would you three like to sing up there with Hayley?"

I looked at Hayley, and then at Lola, and then lastly at Alina, in that order, because I figured one of them would have the answer, or the ability to respond to that question. None of them did. That did not help. So I tried to out-charm James and said, grinning, "Yeah! As long as I can also dance."

"Dance is cool too," said James Actual Diamond - you know what, saying the Actual Diamond is too long. From now on he's just James. "Dance is cool too," said James.

"Now come on! Let's get in here!" Hayley said, grabbing Alina by the hand and dragging her into the auditorium. I followed right after, and Lola was behind me.

* * *

James went to sit at a little table in front of the stage. It had a glass of water and a white tablecloth, for some reason, and a tiny microphone. "So how did you four meet?" he asked, when all four of us were standing at the center of the stage.

"Well, it was at a Big Time Rush concert, actually," said Alina, who had regained her Magic Cool Charisma Superpowers, as was obvious by the fact that she was saying entire sentences at a time. "Hayley came up to me, and then Jessica bumped into Hayley, and then we met Lola at the merch table."

James smirked. "Interesting. Small world. And you've been performing together ever since then?"

"More accurately," said Lola, pushing up her glasses by the arms, "We started performing together the next year, when I enrolled at the same high school as my companions, and we joined the choir together."

James nodded. "Hmm, alright." He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of water. "I know you didn't intend to audition as a group, so I'll give you a couple minutes to figure something out. But I _will _say that this is, hands down, the most intriguing audition I've had today."

"Awesome! Thanks! I've always wanted to be called intriguing," I said, grinning widely. Lola turned me around by the shoulders so that I was in the circle with everyone else, after that.

"What's a song that the four of us can sing?" Lola hissed, expression stressed. "We haven't rehearsed anything as a group!"

"We haven't rehearsed anything as a group in _while_," corrected Hayley, with a much more calm face. "We just need something that Lola and I can sing to, Jess can dance to, and Ali to be hot to."

I bit my lip, trying to think of songs. "That's both a lot of things and very few things," I noted.

"I mean, I have an idea," Alina said, with a small shrug. "Remember the talent show sophomore year? We all know _Shot In The Dark_, down to the harmonies, and it's fast enough for Jessi to dance to."

"Do we really want to sing a BTR song in front of one fourth of BTR, though?" I asked, hesitant. Even though I could dance to it in my sleep, as I have many times.

"I can't really think of any other songs that we know as well as we know _Shot In The Dark,_ unless Lola's got something," said Hayley. "Anything, human ASCAP directory?"

"I think it's our best...shot, if you will," Lola confirmed, with a sigh. "So let's just turn around and do it before _The Real James Diamond _says that we don't have a chance anymore!"

In almost perfect sync, the four of us turned around. "Alright! We've got the song," Hayley declared, with a confident smile.

"Great!" said James, smiling. He had a very nice smile, even if it wasn't remotely Carlos Garcia-shiny. "Whenever you girls are ready."

I started off with the count-off - that's what I always did. I do have the best rhythm in our little clique. "One, two, one two three four.."

"_I promised I would be there. I swear I'm on my way. I know you may not hear me, but that's the price I'll pay," _started Alina, fluttering her eyelashes at James while doing so.

Hayley joined in next. She has a really pretty voice for lower harmonies. "_For taking you for granted, you're the air I breathe. I gave you everything, but it was everything to me." _

Lola took the lead after that - she's got this _voice _that's like a kaiju busting down a wall. "_I don't know how I would ever go all alone walking on my own. Like angels, you were floating to me, and that's how it should be!" _

I'm fine with not having the best voice in our squad, because nobody else can do the high harmonies like me. So when the chorus hit, with Alina and Lola singing in unison, Hayley and I took the harmonies. "_Cause __I don't wanna waste another moment. I don't wanna pay for things unspoken. I just wanna race with arms wide open - take a shot in the dark, to be where you are..._"

Then I started dancing.

I've been dancing since I was 3, so it's always sort of been my thing, even though Alina's super good at it too. But to the sound of the other three girls a capella-ing, I did a pretty basic little routine - a lot of pop-and-locking, some waves, and a nice splits for the finish. Dancing! So much fun. You should try it. It was sort of a flashy finish, and I couldn't sing for the rest of the song, but it was worth it.

When we were all done, we were all looking at James like he had the answers to all of life's great questions, like "why don't Lego ever stop being fun" or "did we just pass this audition." His very pretty face was sort of stoic, though, for a little bit of a long time.

Finally, though, after my legs were sort of starting to hurt from being so far away from each other, James said, "You girls have given me a lot to think about. Since Hayley's the only one who technically auditioned, she's going to be the one who will hear back from me, but regardless of what happens next, you'll be informed," he said.

Alina nodded, and threw James a 3-star wink. "We'll be looking forward to it," she said, all fluttery. And then we left the stage, to go back to the waiting room-y place, where my dad was there to drive us all to our houses.

* * *

I don't really get impatient like Alinova does. It's just not really in my nature to get angry, especially not at Father Time, who is doing his best to keep going while his marriage with Mother Nature goes strength to strength. But as spring break passed by and we didn't hear _anything _from James, even I was sort of starting to feel the strain. It was like when I was waiting for _Magodra vs Vanthira II: The Revengening _to come out all over again, or like the line to meet Camille Roberts at Levia-Con last year. My brother tried to distract me with soccer, and my dads tried to distract me with cooking and stock trading, but none of it worked. I really wanted to know if we'd passed the audition, but there were no results...from _anywhere._

Eventually, and by "eventually" I mean "on that Friday, which was the last day of break", we went to Hayley's house and into her cool basement about it, because it was going to be Freddy's phone bringing the information to us anyway. "The audition tour ended yesterday, so we _should _be getting the results today," said Lollipop, who was trying to distract herself with one of her fantasy novels. I don't get what she sees in those - it's like she's never seen a giant monster movie.

"And MFHJD said that he'd be calling us regardless," Alina added. "So he's gonna call Freddy, who is gonna walk in here and say 'Hey, you girls did great and I'm signing all of you as a group, and in December me and the cute Latina one are going to get married'."

"Or that we didn't make it," I added. "We gotta prepare for every possibility."

Everyone turned to me and glared, but then Hayley shook her head. "No, don't get mad at Jessica. She's right. There's a chance that someone else got picked, but even then, we don't give up here."

"Amen to that," Alina said, sighing. "I just...really hope we hear back today."

"Me too," said the other three of us, all at the same time.

So we waited for a while. We distracted ourselves by playing Scrabble, and then doing a puzzle, and watching old BTR music videos on Hayley's iSlab, but an hour passed, and the phone didn't ring, so we all were getting sorta antsy. But then, like light coming down from above, Freddy came down to the basement, and he said, "Hey, there's a call for you. Somebody from Diamond Productions?"

Now, I've never told _anyone _this...in ever... but I've always sort of had a crush on Freddy. Well, not _always. _I haven't known him for always. But I've thought he was really handsome, ever since I met him for the first time. I like the way his hair looks like the same black as a permanent marker, and how his eyes are so bright and ocean-blue when he talks about skateboarding or engineering. I'm the oldest of the group, and I turn 18 over the summer, so it's not like the fact that he's 20 would even matter after that, but I think it's against the Girl Code in a couple places to date your best friend's older brother.

Luckily, I stare at everyone, so I can get away with staring at him for long periods of time if I want to. That day, I focused on the little scar on his cheek that he got when he fell off his skateboard once.

"Put it on speaker and then _leave," _Alina said, nearly running up towards him with 10-point fire eyes, while she snatched the phone out of his hand and just did so anyway, also speeding back to where we were sitting. "Hello, this is Alina Hernandez, to whom am I speaking?" she then said, turning back her shiny voice on.

"My name is Katie Knight," said the voice on the phone, and Hayley gasped and mouthed to Lola, _That's Kendall Knight's sister! _"I'm in charge of financial and artist management here at Diamond Productions."

My heartbeat picked up and I stopped breathing for a little bit. "Holy shit holy _shit,_" Hayley whispered. Even Lola seemed pretty bright, and she's usually sort of a storm cloud.

"Ah! I'd assume that this is about the auditions, then?" Alina said, voice still all shiny, even though her face was also _holy shit. _

"Yes, it is." Katie's voice was very calm and collected. "As you and your friends auditioned as a group, and because you're all minors, it's going to take some more paperwork to have you all sign with us. That'll be sent to Ms. Blake's house, as she's the one whose information we _do _have, so make sure that she gets all of that to you all. Should your demos not get picked, it's back home for the four of you, but until then, we'll also have to figure out how to handle your schooling, and you'll need an adult 'chaperone' for your first couple of months in Hollywood at _least _-"

All of the shine from Alina's voice was gone when she interrupted Katie. "Wait. Wait. Are you saying that - that me, Hayley, Jess, and Lola, that we all made it?"

There was a pause. I could hear the smile in Katie's voice when she replied, though. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Congratulations, and welcome to Diamond Productions. We're excited to have you four on board."

Sometimes, you laugh at things when you shouldn't. Or you cry for no reason. Or you want to punch something because of something minor. But sometimes, you just have so much excitement in your lungs that the only way you can get it out is to scream at the top of your lungs and jump around with your four best friends, because your dreams had just come true. This was one of those times. It's not that I couldn't believe it, because I totally could - we are an above-averagely talented quartet, let me tell you. But so soon! Wow!

When the screaming died, after about 3 straight minutes, all of our voices were pretty dead. "How soon do we need to send in the paperwork?" asked Hayley, her voice sounding the least dead.

"By the beginning of June, but sooner is always appreciated," said Katie, after a second. "Thank you very much. We look forward to hearing to you soon."

After we heard the _click _from the other side of the line, the screaming continued for a while, until Freddy came back downstairs. "What the hell are you guys yelling about? Did something happen?" he asked, half-confused and half-angry sounding.

Hayley just turned to Freddy and gave him a crazy wide smile. "How would you feel about going on a trip to Hollywood with the girls and I?" she asked, and my heart went a thousand times faster than it usually did.

* * *

We did get the paperwork from Hayley, right after school started back up again. It was very boring. Full name (Jessica Caihong Li), age (17), birthday (August 1st), all informational stuff. My dad Harold had one of his lawyers look through everything to see if we were going to get screwed out of our royalties or anything, but it all checked out, which made a difference to Lola's mom, at the very least. Hayley's parents were cool when they found out that Freddy was going with us, and I think Alina's mom and dad wanted one less kid to take care of for a while, anyway, so that worked out, at least. We'd be leaving for Hollywood just as the school year ended.

We all met up at Alina's locker the day before the trip. "I broke up with Petey," she announced, throwing back her hair all pretty-like. "I didn't want to leave town with any regrets."

"I had to resign from the soccer team," said Hayley, with a bit of a sigh. "I can't make training camp if I'm not in NC."

"And it might all be four naught if our demos don't get picked," added Lola.

I shook my head. "You three are being way too pessimistic about all of this!" I said, crossing my arms. "The chances of this happening to us four, out of everyone in the whole world, is less than the chances of us getting a sequel to _Sky King Jireyah, _but you know what? It happened to _us _and my favorite giant dragon does not have any movies coming up."

Alina furrowed her eyebrows at me. "Without the giant monster?"

"What I think she's trying to say is," said Hayley, because she can translate my mind to normal people talk, "It sucks that I have to give up soccer, and I know you almost liked Petey, Alina, and that things might not work out. But...okay, so no giant monster metaphors. How about a BTR metaphor?"

Lola smiled at that. "I'm listening."

Hayley smiled back, at absolute maximum power. "This is our someday. We need to take a bite of this apple already."

The last passing period bell of our junior year rang. "We should get to class, but after school..." Lola said, nervously biting her lip.

"After school," Alina agreed, with a sense of finality. The four of us parted ways to go to our last classes of the day, and to the first day of the rest of everything else.

* * *

_A/N: Jessi's POV is so much fun to write :D And hey, pairing seeds. They've been planted. Next is Lola's chapter (which might not be next Monday? I don't have it fully written yet, RIP), and then...things will switch up a bit._

_These first four chapters are the Big Time Audition of this fic, but after that, I want to follow the A-Plot/B-Plot format of the show, so that I don't miss anything important in the storyline. So it'll switch to 3rd person omniscient for a while._


End file.
